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Mike Harrison

@higheredactuary.bsky.social

590 followers 120 following 1.7K posts

Pensions, Higher Education, medieval history, running, diversity, climate change, grade 3 piano (2024). Partner @ Mercer. Actuary (both sides of the Atlantic 🇬🇧🇨🇦). Views my own.

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Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · Mar 14

Put your virtual hand up (and pass it on) if you’d be personally happy to PAY MORE TAXES so we could have better public services, fewer benefit cuts and faster progress on climate change.

I’ll start…

a cartoon minion is standing in the snow and waving .

ALT: a cartoon minion is standing in the snow and waving .

media.tenor.com

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Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 7h

Excellent death statistic news… unless you’re a bloke… in a certain age bracket…

💀

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 1d

I’d be if the government would keep “doggedly pursuing the chimera of fairness and equality” but replacing the word “chimera” with “goal” perhaps….

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 1d

Meanwhile in Higher Education policy land…

“international students… are expected to contribute towards the day-to-day living costs of poorer home students too (just so long as those UK students are studying courses deemed to be of most economic value)”

As the Labour Party Conference draws to a close, HEPI takes a look at what just happened - HEPI

Nick Hillman, HEPI Director, bottles his thoughts about this year’s Labour Party Conference. As multiple fringe events showed, when it comes to higher education the Labour Conference was very busy, wi...

www.hepi.ac.uk

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 1d

Ouch.

Wonkhe @wonkhe.bsky.social · 1d

NEW on Wonkhe: Conservatives have a poor quality higher education policy bit.ly/42vwqIZ

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 1d

So I’m at a hotel and in room 1215.

I’d be in a minority if I started trying to chat to the reception team about sealing the Magna Carta, right?

@susanabernethy2.bsky.social

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Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 1d

Super excited to be visiting the excellent @uniofreading.bsky.social today - home of #showyourstripes !!

Show Your Stripes

Visualising how the climate has changed for every country across the globe

showyourstripes.info

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 2d

Top quality seeing Lord Heseltine on Newsnight.

Whatever your politics, doff your hats. 92 years old and still on top of his game.

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 2d

"Developing countries, especially China, led the clean energy charge but richer nations including the US and EU relied more than before on planet-warming fossil fuels for electricity generation"

Go, China!

@katharinehayhoe.com @edhawkins.org @davidho.bsky.social @hausfath.bsky.social

Renewables overtake coal as world's biggest source of electricity

Developing countries lead the historic clean energy charge but the US and EU rely more on fossil fuels than before, a think tank study shows.

www.bbc.co.uk

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 3d

“She may have shattered a stained glass ceiling…”

For this delightful metaphor…

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 3d

“including references and citations to non-existent reports by academics at the universities of Sydney and Lund in Sweden”

Somebody somewhere put their name to this report; somebody somewhere claimed to have “checked it”…

A salutary AI lesson/case study for all professional advisers.

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 3d

The Big Four accountancy and consultancy firm will repay the final instalment of its government contract after conceding that some footnotes and references it contained were incorrect. on.ft.com/3KWQI7Z

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 3d

Disturbing when you’re quietly working on important pensions actuary stuff in the office…

Caption this? 🐦

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 3d

How are YOU getting to work?

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 4d

Reality hits home.

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 4d

Strong stuff from the FT.

“the high-profile loan guarantee risks setting a dangerous precedent, signalling to other large firms that they too can forgo insurance or security investments and rely on state intervention”

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 4d

Britain’s flawed support for Jaguar Land Rover on.ft.com/48Kk03G | opinion

Britain’s flawed support for Jaguar Land Rover

The government’s loan guarantee risks creating complacency over cyber resilience

on.ft.com

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Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 4d

It’s a WINDY one for Sunday Runday…

a black and white photo of a man crawling in the mud

ALT: a black and white photo of a man crawling in the mud

media.tenor.com

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 5d

Weekend FT.

Note to self - it’s not new retail investors (aka buyers) who are taking advantage of a “surge in the price”, it’s old ones (aka sellers).

#tulips

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 5d

I wonder how many of “the public” have actually read the ECHR…

YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 5d

With Kemi Badenoch saying the Tories would take the UK out of the ECHR, our poll in June found the public wanted to remain members by 51% to 27%

yougov.co.uk/topics/inter...

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 5d

Define irony…

“His business imports the majority of its flags from Taiwan”

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 5d

Not helping the cause of UK universities to boost revenue from international students.

Wonkhe @wonkhe.bsky.social · 5d

This week on Wonkhe: Jim Dickinson explores how UCL’s oversubscription crisis has left hundreds of international students in limbo - raising fresh questions about whether UK universities are operating within consumer law

Visa oversubscription at UCL may be more than just a PR problem

Jim Dickinson explores how UCL’s oversubscription crisis has left hundreds of international students in limbo - raising fresh questions about whether UK universities are operating within consumer law

buff.ly

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 6d

I’m going to (naively perhaps) bet on “no” and bet that Reform will end up as the dampest squib since the SDP come the next General Election…

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 6d

Are the Tories facing oblivion? on.ft.com/4mMbSTK

Are the Tories facing oblivion?

With the Conservatives at their lowest ebb ever, leader Kemi Badenoch faces a fierce struggle to maintain the party’s relevance

on.ft.com

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 6d

Maybe they should go for “stay really cautious because s#!t happens” rather then “stay agile”?

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Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 6d

I agree, Steve, but even as pensions insiders we still have to hedge our advice to clients and our guidance to friends “just in case”… which is unhelpful.

Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 6d

I will be interested to hear what actions any trustees at all anywhere have taken following useful advice to “stay agile”…

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Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 6d

I am conflicted but a five year promise would work for me, Steve!

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Mike Harrison @higheredactuary.bsky.social · 6d

I am going to be SO disappointed if the government touches the pensions tax free cash sum.

And I’d expect a public sector revolt.

But I bet it’s just kite flying again.

Perhaps @torstenbell.bsky.social could confirm before many more people are bounced into decisions out of fear?

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